explaingit

ad-chd/decloud

Analysis updated 2026-06-24

3KotlinAudience · generalComplexity · 3/5LicenseSetup · easy

TLDR

Local Android-to-Windows file transfer app over WiFi or USB. No cloud, no account, with an Android app and an Electron desktop companion.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((DeCloud))
    Inputs
      Files and folders on phone
      Phone contacts
      USB or WiFi connection
    Outputs
      Files copied to PC
      VCF contacts export
      Real time progress bar
    Use Cases
      Back up phone to PC locally
      Replace AirDrop or Quick Share
      USB ADB file transfer
    Tech Stack
      Kotlin
      Android
      Electron
      Node.js
      Gradle
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Code map

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Move files between Android and Windows over local WiFi with no cloud account

USE CASE 2

Back up an entire phone to a PC using a USB ADB connection

USE CASE 3

Export Android contacts to a standard VCF file

USE CASE 4

Run a hotspot-mode phone-to-PC transfer when no shared network exists

What is it built with?

KotlinAndroidElectronNode.jsGradle

How does it compare?

ad-chd/decloudblindman81/snippetsleonxlnx/image-sorter-app
Stars344
LanguageKotlinKotlinKotlin
Setup difficultyeasymoderatemoderate
Complexity3/52/52/5
Audiencegeneralgeneralgeneral

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Default install is sideloading the Android APK and running the bundled portable Windows EXE, building from source needs JDK 11, Android SDK 34, and Node.js 18.

Apache 2.0 lets anyone use, modify, and distribute the code, including commercially, with attribution and an explicit patent grant.

In plain English

DeCloud is a free app for moving files between an Android phone and a Windows PC over your home WiFi or a USB cable. The whole point is that files travel directly between the two devices on your local network. Nothing is uploaded to a cloud server, you do not create an account, and the project is open source so you can read the code to confirm what it does. It is pitched as an alternative to AirDrop and Quick Share for people who do not want a third party in the middle. The README highlights that you can back up an entire phone in minutes on your own network, with no internet connection required. The main features cover transferring any file or folder, searching across internal storage and SD card with type, size, and date filters, and quick categories for images, videos, audio, documents, downloads, and apps. There is contacts export to a standard VCF file, a real time progress bar based on bytes rather than file count, light and dark themes, and three transfer modes: a WiFi hotspot from the phone, a shared WiFi network, or USB with ADB. The app has no ads, no accounts, and no internet access. A Google Play release is listed as coming soon, and the current way to install is to sideload the APK from GitHub Releases. A portable Windows companion executable is bundled in the same release with no installer needed. For people who want to build from source, the Android app uses Gradle with JDK 11 and Android SDK 34 or higher, and the desktop app is an Electron project that needs Node.js 18 or newer. The license is Apache 2.0.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Walk me through DeCloud's three transfer modes and where each is implemented in the Kotlin code
Prompt 2
Show me how the Electron Windows companion app talks to the Android app over WiFi
Prompt 3
Help me build DeCloud from source with JDK 11, Android SDK 34, and Node.js 18
Prompt 4
Explain how the byte-based progress bar is computed during a large folder transfer
Prompt 5
Where does DeCloud handle the VCF contacts export

Frequently asked questions

What is decloud?

Local Android-to-Windows file transfer app over WiFi or USB. No cloud, no account, with an Android app and an Electron desktop companion.

What language is decloud written in?

Mainly Kotlin. The stack also includes Kotlin, Android, Electron.

What license does decloud use?

Apache 2.0 lets anyone use, modify, and distribute the code, including commercially, with attribution and an explicit patent grant.

How hard is decloud to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is decloud for?

Mainly general.

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